Chapter 1713 — Bringing Down the Empress
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
In the abyss the Empress whirled her long sleeves, dodging the primordial light from Shen Mu's eye, but there was no dodging it, and in moments her flesh was riddled with wounds.
From the shadows behind Shen Mu, Lord Shang's figure flickered out like a ghost, about to charge into the abyss.
Abruptly Shen Mu closed the vertical eye at his brow and raised a hand to block him. "Lord Shang, there is no need to pursue."
Lord Shang stepped back and vanished once more into his shadow.
The great abyss closed and was gone.
Shen Mu flicked his sleeve and rose step by step into the sky above the thirty-three heavens of the Land of No Sorrow, where the Great Luo Heaven of the One Qi floated, the light of the Dao Tree scattering across the thirty-sixfold void, supremely holy.
Shen Mu strode quickly to that Dao Tree. Heavenly Venerable Yun came out, and the two exchanged greetings.
"Brother Yun, when you were in the great abyss of the Abyss of Return, how did the Empress transform into Madam Yuanmu?" Shen Mu asked, forgoing pleasantries.
Heavenly Venerable Yun said, "She borrowed the Dao of Reincarnation; her consciousness was reborn through reincarnation within her own body, and she became Madam Yuanmu."
"So that is where the trouble lies," said Shen Mu, enlightenment dawning on him.
Heavenly Venerable Yun was puzzled.
"The Empress and Yuanmu are in truth both the consciousness of the Goddess of the Abyss of Return, two different personalities and nothing more. When the Empress holds the upper hand and rouses the art of reincarnation to become Yuanmu, it means the Empress and Yuanmu have merged into one."
Shen Mu said, "I met the Empress just now, and found that they have already begun to merge."
Heavenly Venerable Yun's expression changed, and the words escaped him. "Does that not mean she has no weakness left? That even the Dao of Reincarnation cannot control her?"
Shen Mu shook his head and smiled. "That is why, when she fled, I touched a finger to her brow and used the art of reincarnation to plant another Madam Yuanmu within her. At the moment she was struck, her consciousness had already reincarnated through a thousand lives in my art; I cultivated the new Yuanmu consciousness until it ripened."
Heavenly Venerable Yun stared straight at him, a chill running through him, and after a moment he said, "Brother Mu, do you know how terrifying you have become?"
Shen Mu was taken aback. He thought it over carefully and nodded in silence.
Heavenly Venerable Yun let out a foul breath. "I can no longer make sense of your divine arts. Perhaps you really are becoming the Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace."
Shen Mu was silent a while, then his face brightened into a smile. "When this universe can no longer hold me, I will go and plague other universes. But before that, I mean to sweep away every obstacle in my path."
At the Heavenly Court's main camp, a great abyss appeared. The Empress rolled out of it, and a sweetness suddenly rose in her throat. She hastily forced down the blood surging upward, shocked and furious at heart. "The Lord of the Lingguan Hall did not speak falsely. The Heavenly Emperor Hao truly cannot last ten moves against him."
Just then the laughter of Madam Yuanmu came abruptly into her mind. "Elder sister, you are wounded. Best hand the body over to your little sister."
"Oh no."
Darkness came before the Empress's eyes, and her consciousness sank into the dark.